Pizza Hut adds unusual C-suite post

pizza hut exterior

Pizza Hut is expanding its senior executive team with the hiring of a social media and e-commerce veteran as the chain’s first chief customer officer.

Helen Vaid will be responsible for customers’ experiences when ordering digitally or visiting one of the chain’s 16,000 restaurants, said Pizza Hut President Milind Pant.

She will join the Yum Brands operation after serving as VP of digital store operations and experience for Wal-Mart. According to Pizza Hut, Vaid was responsible for the growth in the retailer’s online traffic and sales. The mass merchandiser is the nation’s second-largest e-commerce retailer.

Earlier, Vaid was general manager of Snapfish, an online photo-sharing destination.

Although many restaurant chains have charged a high-level executive with improving customers’ experience, the responsibilities usually fall within marketing, operations or a customer relations department.

Vaid is scheduled to join Pizza Hut on Sept. 26.

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